Meema Stories

If you are an informal caregiver caring for a spouse or a parent, or a trained and paid caregiver caring for a client - whether you're providing that care in a home or some form of senior housing or whether you are struggling to sustain meaningful connections over Zoom - in any case, you are all looking for stimulating things to do, things to talk about, ways to engage the person you’re caring for. We’ve learned that companionship is an essential element of care. And authentic conversation is essential to companionship. Without companionship, stimulation and social activities, many individuals develop a host of secondary problems including depression, anxiety and apathy, any one of which can overwhelm their caregiver. It sounds easy. In practice, however, it can be pretty hard to continually find new and stimulating things to talk about. Family caregivers are generally untrained, unpaid and often exhausted after caring for basic physical needs, healthcare and security. Even paid caregivers face this challenge. Day after day it’s difficult to muster the imagination and drive to inspire purposeful reflection, reminiscence and conversation. But there are good reasons to persevere. When caregivers also serve as companions, they can actually help reduce social isolation. And connections make caregiving more meaningful. More interesting. More fun, even. Meema Stories can help. Meema is the caregivers’ virtual assistant with stories that help inspire meaningful conversations with their care recipients. Meema Stories are high quality, instantly available, easy-to-use, curated, and highly-interactive resources to help make better connections in a caregiving practice. Although they have been used by professionals, they were purposefully created for family caregivers to stimulate and engage their spouse or parent in reflection, reminiscence and conversation.